[Prevention of diabetes in pancreatectomised dogs by autotransplantation of pancreatic tissue in the liver].

In 15 mongrel dogs, a mixture of exocrine and endocrine pancreatic tissue obtained by a simple procedure was implanted into the liver of the same animal through a branch of the portal vein. Five animals with partial pancreatectomy were used for a morphological study. In a second group of ten dogs, 5 delayed and 5 immediate pancreatectomies were performed. No diabetes appeared after the pancreatectomy. The subsequent blood glucose and insulin levels remained within or close to the normal range for several weeks in 9 animals and up to 10 months in a last one, still alive. In 9 out of 10 animals, the long term study was limited between 6 and 17 weeks by the development of a malnutrition syndrome with hepatic steatosis due to the lack of exocrine secretory function because of the pancreatectomy. The last animal still alive developed the malnutrition syndrome after a second complementary resection of a small pancreatic fragment left along the duodenum. This last animal without diabetes at the 45th week suggests that the endocrine function of the autotransplanted pancreatic tissue could be maintained over a long period of time.